Clark County Commish Collins: If he's elected Lt. Gov. in 2014, it will stop Sandoval from running against Harry Reid in 2016

Brian Sandoval is re-elected governor in 2014. But in 2016, he leaves office to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a multi-million-dollar, smack-down, drag-out race for U. S. senator.

Then – ta-da – the lieutenant governor – who will be elected in 2014 — becomes Nevada’s new governor.

That’s a key reason why Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, a Democrat, wants to be the next lieutenant governor.

Sandoval would not take on Reid in a U.S. Senate race if Nevada had a Democratic lieutenant governor, Collins said during a visit to the Legislature in Carson City this week.

“A Republican is not going to leave his position – of course he would lose to Harry, anyway – but a Republican governor is not going to leave his position to a Democratic lieutenant governor,” Collins said, referring to Sandoval. “So a Democrat needs to be in there, so Sandoval will keep his commitment for four more years if he is re-elected.”

ANOTHER CLARK COMMISSIONER, Chairman Steve Sisolak, was also at the Legislature this week. He is not ruling out a run for governor as a Democrat. He was asked about it in the elevator and said he would “never say never.”

Later, he sent an e-mail:

“I just got re-elected in November,” Sisolak wrote. “I really enjoy what I do, and feel that I have something to offer. Not a day goes by without someone asking me about future offices, particularly running for governor. I am keeping my options open for now, and not closing the door on any potential future political campaigns.”

If the Democrats had a Sisolak-Collins ticket for governor and lieutenant governor, it may get uncomfortable. Being from Northern Nevada, I had no idea there was tension between the two, at least from Collins’ perspective.

When I told Collins I talked with Sisolak earlier in the week, he replied, “I’m sorry.”

When I asked what he thought about Sisolak running for governor, he replied, “You want something you can print?”

The he let loose with this zinger: “He (Sisolak) couldn’t win that race. Here’s what I think: I think Brian Sandoval is a bigger Democrat than Steve Sisolak is.”

Yet I’ve heard Sisolak’s name mentioned as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate more than others. You can’t, however, rule out what term-limited Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto will do.

She has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate but has not announced her next move. Either candidate would face difficulty beating an incumbent popular governor, even if the state GOP is inept. Yet Cortez-Masto has run and won statewide. Sisolak has not.

IF COLLINS RUNS for lieutenant governor, his Republican opponent in the general election possibly could be state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas.

After losing the GOP primary for Nevada’s new 4th congressional district to Danny Tarkanian in 2012, Cegavske said she would consider running for lieutenant governor – or Congress again – in 2014.

“All of those are being looked at,” Cegavske said. “As Republicans, we are trying to put together (a list) of all of the constitutional offices, hoping for the people we feel would be the best and not have a lot of primary opponents.”

About lieutenant governor, she said: “With lieutenant governor, you are still in the mix with all the bill drafts and the legislation and I love this process, so I think it is possible.”

About this blog

Ray Hagar is the political reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal and a fifth-generation Nevadan. Hagar is also a co-host for the Nevada Newsmakers statewide television program. He is the co-author of "Johnson-Jeffries: Dateline Reno," a book about the 1910 "Fight of the Century" in Reno that pitted black world champion Jack Johnson against the "Great White Hope," Jim Jeffries